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Congratulations to Cathryn Elizabeth “El” Burley,
Texas Recipient of the APNA Janssen Scholarship
 In 2007 Cathryn “El” Burley earned a B.A. in French from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In May 2012 she will earn a B.S.N. from St. David’s School of Nursing Texas State University. Upon moving from Knoxville, Tennessee to Austin, Texas, El became an AmeriCorps member with Catholic Charities of Central Texas. In this position she participated in operating the Angels of Hope Food Pantry on East 6th Street in downtown Austin where 500-2,000 people were served on a weekly basis. Services included food for families and victims of hurricanes Katrina and Ike, food for children on summer breaks, and a senior food pantry that catered to persons 65 and older and those who were disabled. During this time El developed a passion for Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing. It was not uncommon for people to approach her requesting low- or no-cost psychiatric services. Sadly, many times there were inadequate or no available resources to help in this area.
From these experiences El knew that she wanted to earn a B.S.N. and an M.S.N. in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing so that she can serve to her community, both locally and globally. El’s goal is to provide mental health services to anyone who needs it, regardless of insurance coverage or ability to pay. Working towards that goal she is the team captain for the Texas State University School of Nursing NAMIWalks fundraiser benefiting NAMI Austin, and is now a 2012 APNA-Janssen Scholar recipient. In addition, during summer 2012, El traveled with Partners of the Americas to provide healthcare services to a rural town in Peru. As a part of this volunteer experience she also worked with Operation Smile in Lima providing care to children and their families on the road to cleft lip and palate repair.
After graduation in May, El plans to enroll in a graduate program beginning in fall 2013. Please congratulate El on all of her accomplishments and welcome her to APNA. El will be recognized at the national APNA conference in Pittsburgh in November.
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Congratulations to Sarah Collins,
Texas Recipient of the APNA Janssen Scholarship
Sarah has been involved in patient care in some capacity for the past 11 years. She was a medic in the US Army for 8 years and worked in the burn unit at Brook Army Medical Center as well as in a clinic inVilseck, Germany. She also gained experience as an EMT when she wasn't on duty in the Army. Following her time in the Army, Sarah obtained her LVN license and worked in both psychiatric mental health and perinatal nursing areas before deciding to pursue her bachelor's degree in nursing. Sarah is currently a senior at University of Texas Medical Branch - Galveston and looks forward to graduating with her BSN in April 2013.While at UTMB, Sarah has served as the Student Nurses Association Historical Chair, Pay It Forward Mentoring Co-Chair, Class representative for four courses, and was selected by professors to peer tutor in two of her courses. Her true passion is working with the underserved. She regularly volunteers time with a local free clinic on both their gynecology and psychiatric specialty nights, she has traveled to Lima, Peru to provide basic nursing care to those in need, and has served in local events such as the Chevron Marathon in the major medical tent.
Following graduation in April 2003, Sarah plans to pursue her Master's in order to work as an FNP with pregnant women and new moms who are experiencing PMH crises, and eventually become an OB and Psych clinical instructor.
APNA Texas is proud of Sarah Collins!
